Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Around 100 recruitment offices have sued the Ministry of Labor for enforcing usury (ribaa) on them, Al-Watan reported. Majed Al-Haggas, representative of recruitment offices objecting the Ministry of Labor's system of fines, said the ministry is not being fair on recruitment offices and is putting hurdles in the way of their conducting business. “The ministry has obliged the sponsor to pay 25 percent of the fee for recruiting an expatriate as a prepayment. If the expatriates do not arrive within 90 days, the sponsor may take back his money. Moreover, we also have to pay the ministry a fine of up to SR3,000 for the delay,” said Al-Haggas. He added the recruitment fee is SR7,000 as set by the ministry and 25 percent of the fee is SR1,750. “So, recruitment offices are obliged to refund the SR1,750 and pay another SR3,000 in case of delay of recruitment. How is that profitable for us? This is sheer usury and is confirmed to be so by one of the members of the Senior Scholars Commisssion,” said Al-Haggas. He added that more than 100 recruitment offices have sued the ministry and our hearing is set for Oct. 5. Minister of Labor Mufrej Al-Haqbani said the ministry had already had an open discussion with the concerned owners of recruitment offices to understand their complaints and hear their suggestions. “We value recruitment offices greatly and aim for a cooperative relationship between them and the ministry. However, I will not compromise with the citizens' rights. Citizens expect to receive the expatriates they paid for on time,” said Al-Haqbani. He added the ministry's regulations were not set on ad hoc but thoroughly studied to be fair to both the recruitment offices and their clients. “The recruitment office is fined SR100 for each day of delay. The fine will never reach above SR3,000 and recruitment offices will have 60 days to deliver the expatriate to the sponsor. The fine count will start after the 60-day period and the refund is due after the 90-day period,” said Al-Haqbani.
